The tourism industry is inching its way back to the black following bad weather events which have significantly impacted the expected visitor numbers and, in-turn, the amount of tourism dollars flying into the region.
Rick Hamilton, CEO of Tourism Whitsundays said it’s been a hectic few weeks for the industry.
“The past six weeks have been eventful to say the least - two cyclones, Christmas Holidays, Clipper Race and a long weekend,” he said.
“Unfortunately, we've taken a huge hit as a region with over $35 million in losses from the two cyclones that didn't hit us, and the weather events affected the Christmas holidays, Clipper Race and long weekend to varying degrees.”
While these impacts are frustrating to operators, they are also a common part of life for our resilient small business owners who are adept at bouncing back from weather events.
Mr Hamilton is currently advocating for some disaster support and is a discussing recovery campaign Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) and the Department of Tourism and Sport (DTS).
“I’ll let you know more on that when we have confirmation of the approach,” he explained.
In the meantime, operators are invited to take a quick survey to register their account of damage caused by TC Kirrily.
“The results of this will be submitted to TEQ and DTS,” said Mr Hamilton.
“The results of the survey will compound our bid for further funding to aid tourism recovery in The Whitsundays.”
Take the survey – scan this QR code!
Tourism Whitsundays CEO Rick Hamilton advocates for support post TC Kirrily. Photo supplied
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